This is a festive twist on an old classic date crunch but with fresh cranberries, fresh orange and a hint of winter spices.
It has a spiced oat base, a layer of tart fresh cranberries cooked with orange juice and zest then topped with more spiced oats.
It's a perfect bake for the festive season and can be made in advance and frozen until needed.
It is a very easy bake and you don’t need a stand mixer just a bowl and your hands to make any of my delicious oat crunch recipes.
It can be served warm with brandy cream or rum butter or eaten cold with a warm drink.
Start by pre-heating the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan) then line a 9 x 9inch or 23 x 23cm square cake tin with parchment paper.
Put the cranberries, orange zest and juice into a medium sized pan and stir on a medium heat until the cranberries have "popped" and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and butter into a large bowl.
Rub the butter into the dry ingredients. It will be a bit sticky!
Add the porridge oats and spices, then rub in again until the mixture starts to clump slightly.
Take two thirds of the mixture and put this into the tin and press down with a small spatula until it is level.
Spread the cranberry mixture over the oats.
Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the fruit. Press the mixture down lightly with the back of your hand.
Then bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes.
Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into squares.
Spiced Cranberry & Orange Crunch
Sarah’s servings: 16
Sarah's skill: Easy
Baking time: 35-40 minutes
Ingredients:
250g Fresh cranberries
1 Orange (juice & zest)
200g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
200g Unsalted Butter
200g Soft light brown sugar
150g Porridge oats
2 tsp Ground ginger
2 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2tsp Ground Nutmeg
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan).
Line a 9 x 9inch or 23 x 23cm square cake tin with parchment paper.
Put the cranberries, orange zest and juice into a medium sized pan and stir on a medium heat until the cranberries have "popped" and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and butter into a large bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients. It will be a bit sticky!
Add the porridge oats and spices, then rub in again until the mixture starts to clump slightly.
Take two thirds of the mixture and put this into the tin and press down with a small spatula until it is level.
Spread the cranberry mixture over the oats.
Finally sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the cranberries.
Press the oat mixture down lightly with the back of your hand.
Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes.
Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into squares.
Sarah’s extra slice……
You could add some sugar to the cranberries if you find them too tart but I like the different flavours to shine through!
You can add whatever spices you like or leave them out completely.
Adding nuts to the oat mixture will also work well if you don't like spices.